# CVE-2023-53250: firmware: dmi-sysfs: Fix null-ptr-deref in dmi_sysfs_register_handle

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel DMI sysfs driver causes a kernel panic, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 15 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-53250, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-53250, GHSA-m84q-m2jg-26h3, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2023-53250, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-53250

## What is CVE-2023-53250?

CVE-2023-53250 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 15 Sep 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

firmware: dmi-sysfs: Fix null-ptr-deref in dmi_sysfs_register_handle

KASAN reported a null-ptr-deref error:

KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000008-0x000000000000000f]
CPU: 0 PID: 1373 Comm: modprobe
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996)
RIP: 0010:dmi_sysfs_entry_release
...
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 kobject_put
 dmi_sysfs_register_handle (drivers/firmware/dmi-sysfs.c:540) dmi_sysfs
 dmi_decode_table (drivers/firmware/dmi_scan.c:133)
 dmi_walk (drivers/firmware/dmi_scan.c:1115)
 dmi_sysfs_init (drivers/firmware/dmi-sysfs.c:149) dmi_sysfs
 do_one_initcall (init/main.c:1296)
 ...
Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception
Kernel Offset: 0x4000000 from 0xffffffff81000000
---[ end Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception ]---

It is because previous patch added kobject_put() to release the memory
which will call  dmi_sysfs_entry_release() and list_del().

However, list_add_tail(entry->list) is called after the error block,
so the list_head is uninitialized and cannot be deleted.

Move error handling to after list_add_tail to fix this.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-53250?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-53250?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-53250 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53250 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-53250 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-53250 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 15 Sep 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-53250 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53250/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53250/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-53250
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-53250
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-53250

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-53250/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.